Do you find it difficult to keep up with documenting your child’s firsts? Especially after they hit the “big” milestones like getting their first tooth and taking their first steps? There are so many firsts that continue to happen in our children’s lives even after those big milestones.
And I don’t know about you, but as for me it doesn’t even cross my mind to write most of the things down as they occur. Yet there are so many events that are worth documenting, such as the first time our children dress themselves, the first time they sit on the potty, the first time they swing on a regular swing, the first time they sing a song, the first time they read a word, the first time they attempt to cut their own hair or their brother or sister’s hair (that’s always fun), the first time they eat an ice cream cone, or the first time they tell you they love you.
As a child grows, they learn and accomplish new things at an amazingly fast rate. There is so much we could document about our children’s lives, especially as they are achieving and experiencing the first of so many things. These are cherished memories and it would be ideal to be able to look back at our child’s beautifully crafted baby (or childhood) book and remember the events that have happened in their life. Even those not-so-great memories would be in there because those can be meaningful to us too. And this book of memories is not only for us because our children would also like to know and hear about these momentous occasions.
Just the other day, Snootz asked me when he first ate solid foods. This was a great question and I should have been able to turn to his baby book to give him an answer; but unfortunately I couldn’t do that because, well, I don’t have it written down in there.
Here is the hard truth. My children’s baby books are really pretty bare and in all honesty they look kind of pathetic. As the oldest, Snootz’s book has a bit more information but not much. Overall, there is very little written down in the books. I managed to put their names, birth dates, and some other basic information in there, along with a couple of post-it notes with a few scribbles about some things they did but that’s about it. So I feel regretful to know that I’ve missed out on writing these important events down, both for my own and my children’s benefit. But the reality is that with three young children and a very busy life I have found it extremely difficult to find the time or to remember to document everything. Or most things. Or much of anything at all.
But wait. There is a happy ending to this story! Because at about the same time that I was reminded of my children’s sorry looking baby books I also realized that our computer has 15,000 photos stored on it. 15,000!! I don’t know about you, but I think that is an outrageous number of photos. And since many of those photos are of our children that means that their little lives have been captured fairly well. And even better, the photos are saved with the date they were taken so I have dated documentation of those memories. Disorganized documentation but it’s documentation nonetheless. (I realize that this is a ridiculous number of photos to have and a major clean-up is in order but I’m just concentrating on the positive for now). 🙂
So, I have decided to extend some grace to myself today. Although I am not very good at documenting my children’s lives by writing things down in a book, I’ve been a very faithful picture-taker. And in turn, we have lots of photos of our children and many photos that show them in action fulfilling their firsts. And maybe someday I’ll go back and put a book together with all of their firsts that we have captured. You never know!
In honor of this great revelation, I am sharing some of our children’s firsts with you from this last week. Including photos AND a few written words….
Tootsie Pop and Kitty Cat attended their first theater performance and they really enjoyed it! (Snootz and I didn’t care for it very much but that’s okay).
Tootsie Pop and Kitty Cat also rode their bikes to the park for the first time! Not by themselves, of course. 🙂 It was a family outing. I’m also including a photo of Snootz because he’s the big brother and we just need to have a picture of him too!
Do you have a good method for documenting your child’s firsts? Or is this something you struggle with too?
I know what you mean! I did pretty well with the girls , but my poor boy! I never even put his name in the book.
I have discovered several funny moments documented in emails though, and I intend to dig those out and write them down some day.